Anniversary Gift to my Husband

Don't you hate when you have a vision in your mind and no matter how hard you try, the version that you create is just not the way your mind sees it?  

This is attempt #2 and I now give up.  Its the thought that counts, they say. I couldn't even get a good photograph of the canvas that I made my husband; likely because I used Americana Triple Thick Brilliant Brush-on Gloss Glaze as a protective finish... extremely shiny and reflects the light.  The picture looks like everything is flecked with white, but it is just the gloss finish making it look like that.  Sigh.  Now to take turpentine (or?) to remove the goop on my first attempted canvas so it can be repurposed!

 

Here are a couple pictures taken of Maggie at Christmas.  She has just "unwrapped" one of her new toys - a hedgehog. 

 Maggie doesn't make it easy to keep the place tidy.  She has hauled 3/4's of her toys up onto her favourite spot on the couch.  The good news is, there is less on the floor to trip over!

 

Last Canvas before Christmas

My sister-in-law has an earth-tone country scheme to her home so the canvas I made for her (below) was done by sponging 5 different metallic paints over a matte paint base coat:

 

The lighting wasn't right for taking the picture and, I didn't take a progression of pictures due to poor winter lighting conditions (working on it in the evenings).   I used Folk Art Artists' Pigments:  a base coat of 43 Burnt Sienna.  When the base coat was dry, I used several small sea sponges (soaked first in water and squeezed out) to haphazardly sponge various FolkArt Metallics all over the canvas, including the sides:  577 Sahara Gold; 662 Silver Sterling; 663 Solid Bronze; 666 Antique Copper and a touch of 2484 Champagne.   If I wasn't crazy about the colour in a spot I grabbed a different sponge and tapped some more of a different colour.   I think the layering of the different coloured paints gives it more depth.  Because of the metallic pigments and light refracting off it, its hard to get a good photograph.

The wagon wheels are Dusty Attic chipboard stained with 3 different Tim Holtz's distress inks.    The mini birds are also Dusty Attic chipboard.  I used grey ink, a touch of white ink and a touch of yellow on these after the base coat of white gesso had dried.  I like to paint the chipboard with gesso first.  If you don't the cardboard absorbs the ink and you get a "watered down" colour.  If this is the result you are looking for then you don't need to paint it first with gesso.    The metal stickers are from Momenta.

I sure hope my sister-in-law likes it.  Because I had to "mute" the colours down from my previous two bright canvases, I had more difficulty doing this one.  LOL!